What's the cost breakdown of raising cattle?

[BenMillan]

Does anyone here raise cattle, either for beef or dairy? I'm trying to figure out what the minimum cost to start would be, assuming I have nothing but the land.

I'd like to know the cost breakdown for keeping a breeding stock, not just buying calves and raising them.

I've tried searching online but it seems like everything I find is either needlessly complicated or assumes the reader already has the equipment. Also I can't seem to filter out .edu sites so my results are clogged up with academic material when I'm just trying to find a starter guide.

If anyone who's done it could give me pointers or point me to a good website I'd greatly appreciate it.

[Will Williams]

Does anyone here raise cattle, either for beef or dairy? I'm trying to figure out what the minimum cost to start would be, assuming I have nothing but the land.

I'd like to know the cost breakdown for keeping a breeding stock, not just buying calves and raising them.

I've tried searching online but it seems like everything I find is either needlessly complicated or assumes the reader already has the equipment. Also I can't seem to filter out .edu sites so my results are clogged up with academic material when I'm just trying to find a starter guide.

Thanks for the question, Ben. You've shown interest in relocating to our National Office and raising cattle. Johnson County, TN, is still an agriculture-based rural location with plenty of beef cattle operations and experienced cattlemen. They don't "start from scratch." Most are local farmers, raised as kids around cattle in FFA (Future Farmers of America). Speaking of .edu, some go on to study the ins and outs of the cattle industry at an agricultural university aka "cow college." A degree in agriculture isn't enough. A graduate still must have pastureland, experience, connections, funding, and deal with fluctuating price controls and anti-cow "watermelon environmentalists (green on the outside, red on the inside)."

I've heard that there used to be 23 small dairy farms here in the county, and now there is only one as a result of consolidation by big agribusiness. Such is the trend in agriculture, the capitalist "American way." When agribusiness proponents recently tried to bring in a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation), or factory farm, locals organized to defeat it for its potential to pollute our streams, our source of water for humans.

Johnson County was once known as the "bean capital," but no longer. We still have the rich soil for truck farming, rather than give it up for development and urban sprawl. We have a thriving farmers market for purchasing locally grown produce.

If anyone who's done it could give me pointers or point me to a good website I'd greatly appreciate it.

The National Alliance cannot help you. I've told you we do not have any pasture for cattle but, for now, can handle chickens and perhaps a few goats; a community garden and orchard. That's not to say an Alliance member can't have a cattle operation here in our region and get plenty of valuable advice from experienced, neighboring cattlemen.

[White Man 1]

From my (limited) experience growing up around farms and the 4-H, a dairy cow will require at least a quarter acre of grazing land to maintain herself. I'd assume from seeing the herds of cattle around here that the equation can be scaled up for multiple head of cattle, since usually the cattle operations I see have several hundred head grazing on sprawling cleared mountain land. I think Will is right, your best bet for small scale farming is chickens or goats. With the right setup even a pig or two could be fairly easy to manage.

[JohnUbele]

There was a business in Masaryktown, Florida which sold rabbits, worms and other products on about 3 or 4 acres of land. I bought things from them a few times over the years. They had a good business going.

This is their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/RabbitsEtc/

This is a page for their worm business:

http://bestbuyworms.com/

[Will Williams]

There was a business in Masaryktown, Florida which sold rabbits, worms and other products on about 3 or 4 acres of land. I bought things from them a few times over the years. They had a good business going.

Raising worms and rabbits is easy, especially if you can get your rabbits to enjoy eating worms. It's a far cry from the cattle business.

A possibility for the National Alliance's property with its year-round springs and the lay of its bottom land is raising trout. Some ideas about that from Mother Earth News, Homesteading And Livestock section: https://www.motherearthnews.com/homeste ... z83sozshe/

[JohnUbele]

This is a pretty useful reference book to have:

https://www.hopspress.com/Books/Botany_in_a_Day.htm

[BenMillan]

Raising worms and rabbits is easy, especially if you can get your rabbits to enjoy eating worms. It's a far cry from the cattle business.

A possibility for the National Alliance's property with its year-round springs and the lay of its bottom land is raising trout. Some ideas about that from Mother Earth News, Homesteading And Livestock section: https://www.motherearthnews.com/homeste ... z83sozshe/

Crickets are incredibly easy to raise and chickens love them. They also make good fishing bait. I've already got plans to keep chickens and crickets, they don't take up much space at all.

[White Man 1]

You may be interested in these local workshops

https://arcd.org/beginning-farmer-training-hub/

[Will Williams]

You may be interested in these local workshops

https://arcd.org/beginning-farmer-training-hub/

Very good source. Thanks, WM1. Can sign up there for several email newsletters for workshops, etc.

[JohnUbele]

I came across this a number of weeks ago:

Free Introduction to Permaculture Course
https://growpermaculture.com/store/free ... re-course/